Telephone time-announcing system



T. w; VARLEY TELEPHONE TIME ANNOUNCING SYSTEM lime 18, 1935.

Filed Oct. 10, 1934 @111 2 2/ :2 W n J R N RB W TI CALL'NG STATION MOTORHou 015K "MINUTESHDISK 2720M WVa/iey INVENTOR' BY //M W ATTORNEYPatented June 18,' 1935 "$005,357 n I .TELEPZI-IONE TI E-IANNOUNCI NGSYSTEM Y Thomas WQ Varley, New York, 1N. Y. i Application ctober 10,mar-seam. 747,656 T Thisiinvention relates to new and usefulimprovements in telephone exchange systems and particularly inautomatic,systems in which the calling party must be notified when to begin dial;-

. The vobjectof the present invention is to pro-:

vide an arrangementwhereby upon the extension of a-calling, line to aselector switch, instead of applying the so-called dial tone to thecalling line for informing the calling party that-he may proceed withthe dialing of thecalled number digits, a time-announcing device isconnected with his line. Thus, in placeof a mere buzz the calling party,obtains some useful information, the time of 'the,day,and by obtainingthis he will know that the dialing may start. 2 Where merely a tone isapplied to the calling line, itoften happens that the subscriber doesnot wait for theapplication of, the tone, starts dialing too soon, withtheresulting establishment of erroneous connections. It is more likelythat calling subscribers will be awaiting the time .announcement'thanthe otherwise meaningless dial tone.

A further 7 advantage; :of my improved :system isthat callingsubscribersdo not need to dial special numbers or call special operators in orderto obtain time announcements; The. tying up 'of expensive centraloiiicexiswitchingequipment is thus obviated:- I t i M c 30 ,,While theinventionis disclosed in combination with so-called full automaticmachines'witching systems, it will be obvious to those skilled intheartthat it is applicable to the other types of systemsalso, and that theinvention is not limited'to 35 any specific type of time-announoing-orswitching y mus :The drawing represents diagrammatically an embodimentof the present invention as applied to a machineswitching system inwhich sequence switches are used for controlling the establishment ofconnections, only so much being: shown of the switching system as isnecessary for a clear understanding of the invention.

"Referringnowto the drawing, upon the removal of the receiver from theswitchhookatpthe calling subscribers station the magnet M of 'thelinefinder LF is operated to extend the calling s Claims (01. 179%)selector and the "called station and all central en change sender may beemployed for registering the impulses produced by the calling dial, y

7 Upon the extension of the. calling line tothe trunk I, a sequenceswitch associated with the :line .finder and, whose magnet is indicatedat MN is operated, through theagency ofa relay R10 in a manner not shownin detail, tomove into its second position. I-nfthiszpositionthe twoleft hand contacts of sequence switch spring G and the upper left-handand lower right-handqcontacts-of sequence switch spring H are closed,extendingthe calling line through the line finder Wipers, the trunk lineat, the sequence switch springs G and H, conductors 2., to the secondarywinding-of a transformer 3 through which, ina manner to be presentlydescribed, the time announcements 'arexconveyed to the calling party.

When the subscriber. hearsth'e time announce- ,ment, he may dial. Thiswill make and break the circuitof an impulse relay R9 which, through itsarmature and back contact, controls the circuit of operating'ma'gnet-M18ofithe district selector DS anda' slow-acting relay RI 8; .Upon theenergization of relay R18 a circuit is 'clo'sedhtrom ground, through thefront contact, and "arzrnz'iture of relay Rtflto energize,,relay RHL;Duringithe sending of thefirstjgroupof impulses/the: relay R| 8 beingslow to release, remains energized, but

uponthe termination offthe first digit, the line circuit is interruptedlongenough to permit the deenergization of relay RIB, whereupon therelay RID-becomes deenergized and, permits the sequence switch magnet MII to move the sequence switch out of position ,2, whereupon the upperleft-hand contact of sequence switch spring G and the lower right-handcontact of sequence switch ated is well known to thoseskilledin theart..v The details are disclosed in volume 3 of" Automatic TelephoneSystems (London 1924) by WilliamAitken, Fig; 112, page 272, beingparticularly referred ,to. The calling party may now proceed with thedialing of the further digits in the usual manner. The announcing systemconsists of a main shaft 5 which'maybe driven bya suitable time-'-controlled motor 6 connectedtosaid'sh'aftby a pulley I. The shaftcarries two glass photographic i plates or discs 8 and 9;togetherrwith aworm gear "land a switching? cam I l.x The wormgear i0 drives twocommutators I2 and I3, which are conv nected ,bygan intermediate gear,and the cam l'l' controls switching mechanism for opening and closing anelectrical circuit.

The discs 8 and 9 are centrally positioned between the arms of carriagesI4 and I5, respectively. These carriages are reciprocally mounted onrespective pairs of parallel rods I6, I6 and I1, I! and are held innormal position by means of weights I8 which are suitably secured totheir lower portions. The discs 8 and 9 each carry half circleconcentric photographic voice records. For instance, the first record ondisc 8 or the minute record would be the word oclock, the second theword one and the third the word two and so on to the sixtieth record onwhich would be the words fifty-nine. l a

The disc 9 or hour record carries twelve half circle concentric records,the first record being that of the word one and the last of the wordtwelve. well known manner upon a photographic film which forms a part ofthe transparent discs. The carriages I4 and I5 have light projectors I9and 20, fixedlymounted upon one of their arms at one side of the rods,and on the other arms of the carriages opposite the projectors. arefixedly mounted photoelectric cells 2I and 22. The cells areequippedwith appropriate lenses for concentrating or focusing the light raysfrom the projectors onto and through the photographic records to thesensitive areas in said light cells, and these cells are connected bysuitable circuits to the amplifiers 23 and 24. The output circuits ofthe amplifiers are connected by means of a switching circuit to theprimary of a repeating coil 25 whose secondary is 3. T If the opticalsystem, say on carriage I4,-is properly adjusted so that a beam of lightpasses from projector I9 through one of the photographic records on disc8, and if disc 8 is rotated at the proper speed the word orwords'originally impressed photographically upon the disc will bereproduced over the announcing circuit by means Oil the light cell 2 Iand the amplifier 23. This is alsotrue, of I course, with regard to theoperation of the opticalsystem in connection with disc 9. It isevident,therefore, that with the two discs 8 and 9 in operation combined withthe optical systems, a constant repetition of-words impressed on thediscs may be obtained at each revolution, and if carriages I4 and I5 bemoved forward the width of one record a new announcement may by theswitch 26 under control of the cam II. It

willbe noted that during one-half of the revolution of cam II contact ismade withthe output circuit of amplifier 24 and during the other half ofthe revolution, contact is made with the output circuit of amplifier 23.A condenser 21 is inserted in the circuit connected with the amplifier23, and

an additional condenser 28 is connected in the circuit of amplifier 24to prevent direct current flow.

The commutator I2 revolves once a minute and projections on'thiscommutator operate switches 29 and 30 once per minute. The projectionsare oifset as regards each other and are indi- These voice records aremade in any,

vidual to the switches 29 and 30. The function of switch 29 whenoperated is, first, to open the output of either amplifier and second,to close momentarily a circuit through the stepping magnet 3I whichmoves carriage I4 forward one notch, bringing a new record into place.The return of switch 29 to normal reconnects the output of the twoamplifiers under control of cam I I to the common repeating coil 25, thesecondary of which is connected to a common announcing circuitthroughout the exchange.

In the operation of the system it is necessary of course to return thecarriage I4 to its normal position once an hour, and the carriage I5 toits normal position once in twelve hours. This is accomplished by switch39 in combination with switches 32 and 33 on commutator I3, which makesone revolution in twelve hours and is provided with twelve projectingpoints, one of the points being longer than the others. The returnof theminute carriage I4 is accomplished as follows: During the last part ofthe announcement of the fifty-ninth minute one of the points on cam I3makes contact with switch 32, and closes a circuit therethrough frombattery, inner make contact of switch 30, winding of stepping magnet 35to ground. The closure of this circuit operates relay 35 which causesthe pawl mechanism associated therewith to engage the teeth of thecarriage I5 and step the carriage forward ing of release magnet 34,associated with carriage I4 to ground. The closure of this circuitcauses the operation of magnet 34 which disengages its pawl from theteeth provided upon said carriage, whereupon it is returned to normal bythe weight I8. The switch 30 releases after making the momentary contactjust described, and immediate contact is made with switches 29, and acircuit is closed through the left contact of said switch from battery,primary winding of repeating coil 25, to ground through the winding ofstepping magnet 3| associated with carriage I4. The closure of thiscircuit operates stepping magnet 3| which causes the carriage to bemoved along its rods to again start off with the new minuteannouncement.

The long point on cam I3 which makes contact with switch 33 once intwelve hours is slightly offset with respect to the shorter tooth on theopposite side of said cam so that contact will be first made by the longtooth to close switch 33 and immediately thereafter contact will be madewith switch 32 by the oppositely positioned shorter tooth. The closureof switch 33 establishes a circuit through the make contact of thisswitch from battery, middle make contact of switch 30, winding ofrelease magnet 36 associated with carriage I5 to ground. The closure ofthis circuit energizes release magnet 36 which withdraws its pawl fromthe teeth of said carriage and allows it to be returned by means of theweight I8 to its normal position. Immediately after carriage I5 isrestored to normal, the circuit previously described for operatingstepping magnet 35 is closed through switches 30 and 32, whereupon saidcarriage is again stepped upward to announce the hour one, and upon thebreaking of contact of switch 30, a circuit is closed through the makecontact of switch 29, as above described, for operating stepping magnet3| associated withcarriage practiced without departing from the I spiritv I4 to cause it to step upward to announce the minute one. The functionof the lower or back contact of switch is to open the output circuit ofeither amplifier while carriages I4 or I5 are in motion, thus preventingimperfect or partial announcements being made.

The carriages I4 and I5 are thus successively advanced with theiroptical systems in respective synchronism with their photographic discsso that it is possible to make a constant announcement of the timethroughout each minute exceptffor a few seconds at the close of eachminute and hour when it is necessary to open the announcing circuit toallow the switches to set the apparatus for a new minute or for a newminute and hour as the case may be.

During the periods the amplifier 23 is. connected with the opticalsystem of carriage I4, a

circuit is closed from ground through the output of said amplifier,condenser 21, left make contact of switch 26, right make contact of theamplifier 24 with the optical system of carthereof as defined in theclaims.

What is claimed is: 1. In an automatic telephone exchange system,telephone lines means including a selector is operated under the controlof the calling party. a

2. In an automatic telephone exchange system, telephone lines, meansincluding a selector switch for establishing a connection between acalling and a called line under the control of a calling party,.automatic means for connecting a calling line with said selector switch,a

time-announcing unit, means for automatically connecting said unit withthe calling line upon the operation of said automatic means,and meansoperative upon the actuation of said selector switch for disconnectingsaid unit from the calling line. 3. In an automatic telephone exchangesystem telephone lines, means including a selector switch forestablishing a connection between a calling and a called line under thecontrol of a calling party, automatic means including a line finder forconnecting a calling line with said selector: switch, a time-announcingunit, means operable upon the seizure of the calling lineby the line afinder for connecting said unit with ,the latter, and means operableupon the actuation of said selector for disconnecting said unit.

THOMAS W. VARLEY.

